Sleep
by NinjaS-killsXIII
Summary: Our world is lost. And this time, there may be no coming back. Our war was supposed to be over, but it isn't. The enemy has returned. The fight has come back to Destiny Islands. - Set sometime after Kingdom Hearts II.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter I:**  
 **Shadows**

* * *

What is it about sleep that makes it elude us when we need it most? During the long, dark days when sleep is needed so desperately, why is it so hard to find? In the previous months it had come easily. All he need do was close his eyes and it was there, like a silent, faithful friend. He supposed it just went to show, you never know what you have until it's gone. And friends in dark times are a rarity at best.

* * *

The first attack had come at midnight. They struck hard and swift, sweeping through the town like a scythe through harvest wheat. The first few minutes were nothing but silent death. There were no screams, no pleading for mercy, or gentle sobs. Nothing but blood and shadows.

And shadows they were. Silky-slick shadows, whispering through the night. Black as sin, with claws like knives and round, glowing eyes floating in darkness. They moved as ghosts, no sound but the soft snick of claws slipping from a pair of ribs. Yet, no matter how many throats they slit, or hearts they pierced, the blood refused to stick. With a sound like rain it would slide from their claws. For they had not come for blood, nor money, nor land, nor power. They had not come for any reason we mortals could comprehend. Spawned from corridors of darkness they came. Pathways eternal, to fulfill their one, and only vice: hearts. They came from the darkness within our hearts, and hearts are what they came for. A slake that can never be satisfied, not even if the whole world were awash in red rain, and the hearts had run dry.

But still they came.

None understood better than the town's own denizen of the darkness: the hunger burned deep into their instincts. The same hunger that had once clawed through his veins. While sleep may have come easy for others, it never came so for him. Their relationship was more…wary. Akin to two predators, circling each other, both painfully aware of the others lethality.

The town's guardian had wandered under a starless sky, seeking answers to questions never to see the light of day. A wind cold as corpses sliced through his clothes. He passed the town's threshold, returning from another fruitless search on the edges of their home, intent on abandoning one pointless endeavor for another and returning to his bed. At least there he could get out of this blasted wind. Yet it was not to be.

Three houses from his own the guardian paused. His gut felt tight and tense. His bright eyes swept the empty street from under a jet-black hood. His cloak fluttered in the wind and a gloved hand slowly extended from his side. He stood in the center of a three-way intersection. The street was straight to his front and back, with an adjoining street leading off to the left. To his right was a line of houses. A dark mountainside loomed directly behind, suffocating the already clouded sky and wreathed by infectious vegetation.

A curtain shifted. His eyes shot to the window of the house immediately to his left on the corner. Nothing. The silence stretched out for an eternity, like vertebrae bent to near breaking. His muscles began to tense in spite of his effort to stay relaxed. A quiet skittering echoed down the street behind him. He turned, slow and deliberate. Still…nothing.

The vertebrae snapped.

Riku came back around, simultaneously twisting around razor-claws and piercing his keyblade through the shell of darkness. The heartless collapsed and suddenly the street was swarming. A sea of freezing obsidian bodies and piss-yellow eyes flooded from the houses. Riku leapt skyward toward the nearest roof. The wind ripped his hood back, stunning the night with a shock of silver hair, bright as starlight. He latched on the roof's edge and hauled himself onto the tiled stone. And he ran. He could just make out the watchtower, some seventy meters away, on the edge of town. There was an alarm near the top platform. If he could only make it there…

The heartless weren't far behind. Rising to the rooftops like smoke from the gates of hell. The human was fast, but it only took one misplaced step. One mistake and he would be just another bloodless corpse in a soon-to-be-dead world.

Riku vaulted the gap between houses, nearly introducing his Achilles tendon to a heartless claw. He hit the next roof, stumbling, and a talon meant for his throat dug deep into his forehead. Riku roared, feeling as if a jagged shard of glass was ripping through his skin. Then his keyblade severed leg from torso and the talons dissolved into twilight.

The tower was six houses away.

Flames reared on the edges of his vision. Houses, homes…people. Burning.

Five houses away.

The hard tiles clacked beneath his feet. The impacts jolted painfully into his knees.

Four houses.

His breath came in short bursts. His throat felt raw, salt digging into a wound.

Three.

Red tinted his bright hair. Staining his skin.

Two.

His eyes burned from blood and smoke.

One.

A slashing pain in his side.

He leapt.

Riku reached desperately for the tower's edge, blood running, blood pumping, nothing below.

Just death.

Just pain.

Just sleep.

Just REACH!

A single hand clamped onto the very edge of the steel platform, hanging from the precipice. All his weight ripping down on his fingers frantically trying to hold on. More blood poured into his eyes, blinding him. No sound but dim shrieking as the demons below lapped it up. Riku swung sideways, blindly scrabbling for the ledge with his other hand. He could hear the heartless just beneath his dangling feet; imagine the horde filling the street to the brim. Blood was everywhere: rolling into his eyes, pouring from his side, its metallic scent overwhelming his senses. Riku felt himself panicking. His breath was heaving, his heart hammering, his hand slipping.

CLANG!

His second hand found the ledge. Riku grunted as he pulled himself up, his breath hissing at the sharp pain in his side. He rolled over onto the cold metal, wishing he could just close his eyes and rest. It felt like ages since he had just…sat down. He shook his head.

 _Later. Time for that later._

He stood, wincing and dropping back to his knees. The world spun and swam around him. He was losing too much blood. Riku held his side, feeling warm liquid instantly soaking the glove. Grasping the watchtower's railing, he hauled himself to his feet. Head hanging low, he pulled the bell rope.

Frantic clangs rang out over the town. Riku only hoped there was someone left to hear them. But there was nothing more he could do. The heartless were starting to climb the tower and waiting any longer would be suicide. Still, he pulled the rope several more times. That would have to be enough. He dropped the rope and stumbled towards the edge of tower. He grabbed the railing, intent on climbing down while there was still time, when his eyes finally rose from the floor.

"Shit."

The town was ablaze. An ocean of fire spreading nearly as far as he could see. Sudden cracks and painful groans of wood sang through the night as houses collapsed amidst the flames. Survivors fled, dodging falling debris and weaving their way through the fire. Ash and smoke filled the air, choking lungs, and mixing with the sparks floating in the sky. Throughout it all were streets teeming with a river of coal. Heartless.

A young boy ran with his family, holding hands with his mother. The heartless were just behind them, but they were pulling ahead. The boy's short legs struggled to keep up and soot fell from his dirty blond hair. Tear trails streaked his ash-covered face and blue, innocent eyes rose to meet Riku's.

And he tripped.

The boy's hand was ripped from his mother's as he fell. The mother screamed, turning so quickly she lost balance. She crashed to the ground, reaching for her child, just meters away.

The boy reached for his mother, trying to get back up.

But the heartless were on him.

Teeming atop the boy. Slashing. Slicing. _Hungry._

Riku looked on, frozen by horror. There was nothing he could do, the boy was too far away, there wasn't enough time…not enough time.

The mother was dragged to her feet by another survivor, pulling her away as she screamed and reached desperately for her child. But the boy was gone.

Riku dropped his gaze. Rough wood scraped his hands as he swung over the railing and descended the tower, and a lone heart rose into the sky. Twinkling, then swallowed into darkness.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **So...that was different. As it says in the about-this-story section you all read before clicking on this painful piece of writing, this is a tragedy. For those of you who don't like the unfortunate things in life like tears, pain, long, bleak, slightly depressing scene description, and sudden death, I would advise you to stay away from this one. I'm taking a shot at writing one short story for every genre I can think of (or find on the internet) and it just so happens to be tragedy time...which sounds like the title to an emo-pop-rock song, but regardless. Let me know what you think, just don't kill my ego completely, and drop me a comment. This will be a multi-chaptered affair, so stay tuned. Also, to anyone who's following me and was hoping for another Danny Phantom story I apologize. I'm sure I will write another. I just needed to share the love and try out some new characters.**

 **Signing off, XIII.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter II:**  
 **Silence**

* * *

That was five weeks ago. Five weeks since Riku stumbled out of smoke, beaten and bloody. Five weeks since he had carried Riku twelve miles over his shoulder, leading the remnants of Destiny Islands farther from the mainland. Since that day, nothing had been the same.

When the heartless attacked and their town had fallen, everyone had looked to Sora. Despite his age, he had almost single-handedly defended the town as they fled. On the run, he had kept them going, kept pushing them forward. When he wasn't rallying the crowd, he had stayed behind to stall the heartless, buying them time, little by little. They didn't know of his exploits outside of Destiny Islands. No one did, not even his parents. When they had returned, Riku, Kairi, and himself had decided it best to keep their adventures to themselves for the time being. Of course there had been questions, but after a time they died down. The townspeople seemed to sense they had been through more than they could imagine. Sora was still his bubbly, fun-loving self. Riku was still fiercely competitive, and Kairi was still as optimistic as ever. But there was a hard edge underneath it all; signs that something had changed. Confidence in the way they carried themselves few teenagers possessed, and every now again, a knowing glance between the three. That night had simply proven it.

After a week on the run, they ended up on a tiny island, barely three miles across. The island was a green jewel perched on a pedestal of barren rock. Jungle burst to the edges of the clifftops and eventually thinned to a black-sand beach on the seaward side. The island was largely unknown, with only an unofficial nickname given by the fisherman. On account of it being the farthest fishing ground from the town, the last place any fisherman would check before calling it a day, they had dubbed the island Last Hope.

The name seemed only too fitting now.

Sora crouched on the balls of his feet, studying the beach. When the heartless attack came, and it would, it would be from here. The beach was the only conceivable landing on the entire island. Not even the heartless were sturdy enough to withstand the riptides and merciless waves constantly pounding the unforgiving cliffs. As such, he, and the other survivors, had set up their defenses accordingly.

He absentmindedly picked up a handful of the black sand, letting it run through his fingers.

 _If you can really call them defenses_ , Sora thought bitterly.

They had used what they had. Which wasn't much. Several wooden barriers had been erected near the tree line, along with sharpened spikes planted haphazardly throughout the sand. A sorry excuse for a fortress, especially compared with the security systems and battlements of Radiant Garden he had fought along, so very long ago.

Sora ran a hand through his spiky hair. It would barely last five minutes. If they were lucky. Of course he couldn't tell the rest of their group that. They were barely holding it together as is. They had lost their homes, their possessions, their families. All they had left was their hope for a future. Their world had fallen before. It would rise again. Or so they believed.

 _What have I gotten us into?_

Sora walked to edge of the water, and sat down wearily, wrapping his arms around his knees. He stared across the black ocean. Not a single wave washed ashore. It made him oddly uneasy. Like the flat water was glass waiting to be shattered; the calm before the storm. Sora sighed, deep in his chest, wondering how the hell he was going to get them home.

"Hey."

He continued to contemplate the silent ocean, but out of the corner of his eye he saw Kairi sitting down next to him.

"Hey."

She shifted, settling into the sand, "One of those nights huh?"

"…yeah," Sora kept staring into the distance, "How's Riku?"

"The doc says he'll be up on his feet in a couple days. You should go see him."

"Yeah."

In his head he thanked whatever luck watched over them. When he had found Riku on the edge of town, his friend had been bleeding out on the cobblestone, near death. For the week they were traveling, nothing about Riku's fate had been sure. He was comatose, and losing blood faster than they could find new bandages. But the four, blessedly uneventful weeks on the island had seen Riku heal. The wound in his side closed, leaving nothing but memories and a faint gray scar. The town's doctor had even managed a blood transfusion, replacing the blood Riku had lost. Kairi had been at his side every moment, and three days ago Riku had finally woke.

Sora hadn't found the time…or heart, to see him yet.

Kairi's face leaned into his field of vision, a slight, worried smile on her face.

"Hey," She said softly, "What's up? I've never seen you this quiet."

He turned away slightly, wishing he could run to the skyline. Just disappear into the night and forget.

But he couldn't. He couldn't abandon these people to their deaths. He couldn't leave Riku. Not again. Or Kairi, still waiting patiently for him to answer. She had never left and, well, Sora didn't think she ever would. He didn't know which was better. Just what was easier. The skyline beckoned, but he let one whisper, one painful thought free, anyway.

"What have I done Kairi?"

"What?" She asked, looking confused.

"What have I done?" He said, a little louder, "I'm responsible for these people, and what have I done? Their homes are gone, their world is crumbling around them, their families are…gone."

He finally turned towards her. He wanted her to hear what he was saying. To understand what he meant. To meet the demons hidden behind his eyes.

"I'm the keyblade wielder. I was supposed to beat the heartless so this didn't happen. I _brought_ them here Kairi. All this," He waved his hand over the island, "Is because of me. And now, I don't know how we're gonna get out of it." He shivered, the still air sucking the heat from him. Sora dropped his head, then quickly brought it back up, "And Riku…"

He turned away again. He wished he could feel tears at the corners of his eyes. Almost longed to feel some sort of hurt, but he couldn't. His worry, fear, pain…it had all long ago faded to a dull numbness. An acceptance of his fate.

Then a comforting weight settled on his shoulders, pulling him back.

 _Kairi._

She nestled her head against his neck, warm, red hair falling away from her eyes. Her arms pulled him in closer, and she looked up at him with more comfort than he had known the world possessed.

"Sora," Tears gathered at the edges of her indigo eyes, "Oh Sora," She whispered, "What's happening here, what happened to Riku…none of that is your fault."

Kairi turned him back towards her, a gentle hand on his chin, "Help is coming. You sent out a distress call to Disney Castle. The King, Donald, Goofy…they're already on their way. They have to be. Not that any of that matters."

Sora's eyebrows lowered a bit and he blinked questioningly.

"It doesn't matter, because we have you," Kairi said, "Even if you don't believe in you I do. You've never given up before and you won't now. We'll get out of this…trust me."

She held him tighter. He closed his eyes. Why were they here? Why did life have to take more than it gave? He had wanted this moment for so long. After losing his home, losing his friends, even when he became the enemy he swore to destroy this was all that kept him going. The thought of her and him. Together. Now they were here…and nothing was as it should be.

Sora opened his eyes. He sighed and finally returned her embrace.

Okay.

If this was all they would ever have, he would take it.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Not bad huh?**

 **That's right. Not the story (although that too). Two updates in less than a week. You lucky ducks you.**

 **Or unlucky, depending on how you view my writing. Either way! Drop me a review and I promise more quick updates will follow! Motivation people. It's a two way street. I motivate you with writing, you motivate me to write. I hope this finds you all much happier than these poor, downtrodden characters!**

 **XIII, calling it a night.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter III:**  
 **Slip**

* * *

Thunder rumbled in the distance.

Kairi felt Sora stir beside her. She looked up, feeling a knot of anxiety form in her stomach. He was staring out towards the horizon. He squinted and suddenly tensed. Kairi followed his gaze. Lightning flashed a few miles out, but otherwise there was nothing. No movement. Nothing that might raise alarm.

"What is it?" She whispered, not out of comfort this time, but as if the atmosphere suddenly demanded it. As if anything louder would…she didn't want to explore that particular would.

Sora pointed, directing her vision straight out to sea.

A slight smudge had appeared on the edge of the horizon. Night had well and truly fallen by this point and Kairi doubted she would have been able to pick it out of the overcast sky if Sora hadn't pointed it out.

The wind began to pick up, sending tiny ripples across the water. A crack of lightning shattered the heavens, closer than the last, and thunder boomed like a gong calling them to war. Kairi brushed hair out of her face, unconsciously touching her ear. A subtle humming had crept into the air, growing louder by the second. The tide was rolling in and it was bringing something with it.

Sora rose slowly to his feet. Tension pervaded his every movement. His feet spread wide, one slightly in front of the other. Kairi had seen that stance before. All those times Sora and Riku had fought back on their island with wooden swords and every battle with the heartless since. He turned his gaze to her, his eyes intense.

"Run. Sound the alarm and get Riku," He pulled her up, "Then get the two of you out of here."

Kairi blanched, "What? No! If there's trouble I'm staying with you."

Sora shook his head, "Kairi I need you to rouse the others while I hold them off."

"Hold who off? All I saw was a smudge. That could be anything."

Sora abruptly stepped towards her. He was getting angry.

"You know who. That _smudge_ is an army of heartless. A big one."

"But…"

"Kairi. Please. Go."

She glanced over his shoulder. The smudge. The heartless were closer. Maybe only a mile from shore.

"Okay. I'll go, but once I get Riku I'm coming back."

"Kairi."

She stepped towards the trees, "Don't argue," She exclaimed, "I'm not leav-"

Suddenly there they were. Leaving a sweeping, roaring wake behind them, the heartless flew across the water barely a hundred meters out. Shadow upon shadow, three thousand strong. Swarming over each other like some twisted avalanche. More were coming. Farther out she could see the heavies, the fighting force of the army: neoshadows, surveillance robots, darkballs, invisibles, and-

"Oh my god," She breathed.

Several darksides rose from the depths. Torrents of water streamed down their deathly, brutish bodies. Massive waves were thrown from where they emerged, crashing towards the shore. Their enormous yellow eyes glowed like moons and they stretched towards the island like the hands of a god, demanding submission and annihilation.

"Go!"

Sora's shout broke her reverie and suddenly she was running. Running for the trees, slipping in the supple, shifting sand, nearly falling. Sand flew into her face. _Get up get up get up. Don't fall. Go go go._ She shot a glance behind her.

Sora had drawn his keyblade. He charged towards the ocean, a very Roxas-like snarl on his face, just as the first shadow made land. The keyblade slashed and darkness mixed with water, then misted into nonexistence.

Then she was in the trees. Sora was lost from sight. The hard ground pounded beneath her feet and she turned up the speed, pushing herself to go faster. Her heart to pump harder. Her lungs to breath deeper. She had to get to the others. If only to get back to Sora. She knew he could handle himself. He saved the worlds for God's sake, but even he could only take so much. And all those heartless…

She ran faster.

Kairi could feel the adrenaline rushing through her veins. Trees whipped by at what seemed impossible speeds. The sides of her vision grew dark and blurry, leaving only a tunnel of clear focus. Palm leaves slapped her face. Twisting roots snaked from the ground, trying their best to trip her up. The air was hot and muggy, strikingly different from the cold of the beach. Sweat slicked her arms, beaded her forehead. It felt as though she had run miles already. How much farther was the camp?

 _There!_

She skidded to a halt atop the ridge overlooking their camp. A small clearing, nearly invisible until you stumbled into it, or had a higher vantage point, lay at the bottom of the slope. Dozens of tents were spread throughout the campsite, the largest of which was the medical tent, located near the center of the camp alongside a few dying campfires. That's where she would find Riku, along with a few other Islanders injured in the previous heartless attacks. Unfortunately, there weren't many. Most hadn't been so lucky.

Before Riku, she had to rouse the camp. A pair of night watchmen patrolled the far side of the camp. Too far away. She scanned the trees closest to her. Then she spotted it.

A makeshift watch post had been built about three-quarters of the way up a large, old-growth tree. It was little more than a platform resting on two of the stouter branches, but the view was completely unbroken. Perfect for spotting trouble before it even got near. A lone sentry stood facing the jungle, peering into the gloom.

"Thank the keyblade," She breathed.

If she could just get to him, the treetop post housed flares they used to signal the other sentries, who would warn the rest of the camp.

Kairi heaved a couple breathes, then started down the slope.

She cut diagonally through the foliage, trying her best to travel in a straight line. But the jungle was thick and convoluted. The canopy blocked out the sky overhead. Within seconds, the lookout, and even the tree holding it, disappeared from sight. Kairi hoped she was going the right direction.

 _Where's Sora when you need him? Or Riku?_ The boys had always had a better sense of direction than she did. Sometimes Sora couldn't logic his way out a paper bag, but give him a world he'd never been to before and he'd have the terrain mapped out within an hour.

 _Suck it up Kairi. They're not here right now and they're counting on you. Where the hell is that lookout?_

The dense jungle seemed intent on keeping her confined. Instead of thinning out as she hoped, it only thickened. Gnarled branches contorted into a mass of scrapping webs. Grasping vines tangled in her hair, wrapping round her arms. Slick moss underfoot constantly threatened her to slip. She was forced to an agonizingly slow pace, hating every nanosecond. The light had all but disappeared. Kairi waved a hand in front of her face. Nothing but a dim outline. Wet leaves she had admired only this morning, entrancing as the sunlight shimmered off their dew, now coalesced in the shadows. They played with her eyes. Dappled grey patterns shifted in the muggy air, turning her imagination against her. Thoughts played in her mind. Thoughts of darkness and what lay within. Skittering horrors slipping behind her. Terror licking up her spine. Hot, damp breathe on her neck. All of it gone the moment she turned her head. Suddenly every swaying branch became a heartless claw. A passing firefly morphed into a lustful eye; a rustle in the brush behind her could only be some new breed of death yet unseen. Her eyes flicked side to side. Her mouth was dry, tasting like sand. Her chest seemed too tight for her lungs. Her breath hitched, painfully stalling in her throat before speeding to a breakneck pace.

Inches from panic she growled.

"NO."

She summoned her keyblade, clenching the hilt and enunciating every word in her mind.

 _I. Will. Not. Panic._

Her breath slowed. The tightness around her chest dissipated. The keyblade flashed, vanishing in a spray of light. Kairi took one last look around the jungle and continued onward.

"For God's sake," She muttered. She growled again, lashing out at a passing branch in frustration.

All at once the world seemed to shatter.

The branch snapped back with surprising force, hitting Kairi full in the face. Kairi felt the breath knocked out of her lungs as she slammed to the ground. Simultaneously, something swished past her head, grazing her ear. Blood rushed from her nose, spattering the soil. It felt twisted.

 _Broken_ , she thought.

She rolled over, gulping for air. Failing miserably. She pushed off the ground and was immediately tackled back down. Claws pierced her shoulder. Kairi screamed and lashed out blindly, foot connecting with her attacker. Stumbling to her feet, she roughly flung the hair from her eyes. A shadow heartless lept towards her, claws gritty with blood and dirt. She brought up her hands just in time, catching the heartless on her forearms. Flesh ripped from her arms as she swung, flinging the shadow; cringing as its spine snapped against a tree trunk.

Two more heartless materialized from the brush, sinking into the ground, crawling on all fours. Fast. Faster than anything nature could have intended.

Kairi ran. Pushing through the undergrowth. Any moment expecting a slicing pain in her ankle. Her lungs heaved. Time sped by too fast. The trees closed in. She couldn't see. Green. Black. Wind. Feet can't keep up. Too fast TOO FAST.

Her foot caught. Twisting under a root, ankle cracking from the pressure. Falling forward. Falling down. In that split second before the crash, before the fall, before the punch, when time seems to freeze, one thought ran through her mind.

 _This is going to hurt._

Impact. Her face smashed to the ground for what felt like the millionth time tonight. More blood cascading from her nose. The world kaleidoscoped. Up was down. Down was up. Direction, space, and time disappeared. She didn't know where she was or where she was going. All she knew is she wanted to stop.

 _Oh god stop please stop stop stop st-UGH!_

Kairi crashed into a tree, bouncing off and tumbling several meters farther downhill. Ankle coming down on a rock. Hard.

"SHIT!" She screamed, throat torn raw. Her already swollen ankle pulsated, sending another wave of agony through her. Kairi whimpered, curling into a ball.

Two pairs of eyes gleamed in the darkness. The two heartless stepped towards her. They crouched instinctively, moving slowly, sensing the kill was near.

Kairi turned away, looking up towards the stars. She felt no fear, only a deep sadness. Their world would fall, because of her. She had failed.

 _Sora. Riku. I'm sorry._

A single tear rolled down her dirty cheek. Her vision darkened, though whether her eyes were closing or her vision failing she didn't know. Dimly, as though from a great distance, a shot rang out, followed by a second. A pair of boots stepped into the sky, sliding towards her and blocking her view of the stars. She felt slightly cheated. She wished whoever owned them would at least give her a clear view. One last time.

With that thought, Kairi blacked out.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Gah. I don't know why it took me so long to write this chapter. The first few days after I posted chapter two I didn't have time to write. I was hanging out with my parents for Father's Day and then I had a couple rough days with work. I love my job,** **don't get me wrong** **(I work for a university Residence Life Department as a Resident Advisor, google it if you're curious), but I was having a bad day already and I had to deal with a student who was being a grade-A a$$hole. Anyways, while those days I couldn't do anything about, I do apologize for all the time afterwards. That's my bad. Also, as I said this chapter was weird. Some parts I felt like I was bashing my head against a wall trying to write. It would take me three hours to write a five sentence paragraph. Others parts it all just flowed together and I would write a quarter of the chapter (it's not exactly a huge chapter I know, but still). However, I do hope you enjoy it. As always drop me a review. Give me tips. Give me critiques. Give me digital slaps to the back of my head about how I need to write quicker if you must. Compliments are nice too. But without further adieu, I swear I will not rest until this story is complete. You have my word. Night guys!**

 **XIII**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter IV:  
Sins**

* * *

Darkness. Nothing but darkness. Riku felt cold. His skin was wet and clammy. His long, silver hair clung to his neck like a leech. He shivered, pulling his arms closer to his chest. Somewhere along the way he must have lost his cloak. He felt exposed without it. Vulnerable. He was lying on the ground. It felt smooth. Cold. Hard, and yet, almost ethereal. As if it wasn't really there. For some reason he pictured it as transparent. With nothing really below it? Though all this was just speculation. He couldn't actually see the ground. It didn't matter whether his eyes were open or closed. Nothing changed.

Riku didn't know how long he had been there. It could have been days or minutes for all he knew. But he felt as though he was forgetting something. Something important. Had something happened? Where were his…friends? Did he have friends? Did he have a home? Who was he?

Riku sat up, moving sluggishly. He raised a hand to his forehead, trying to think. His thoughts felt confused, jumbled about…in a way. Memories floated aimlessly, just out of reach. They were muddled, like vague shapes surrounding him, hovering in dirty, viscous water.

 _Think dammit think._

Riku glared where he thought his shoe must be, willing something, _anything_ to surface.

 _Wait._

Something was there. A…a blade?

There. Out of the darkness. Wreathed in smoke, black and red, designed in the shape of a bat's wing. A feathered, white angel wing extended from the back, giving it a very key-like appearance. Smaller versions of each wing formed guards on both sides of the hilt and a blue, cat-like eye was inlaid directly above where the hand would rest. A keychain resembling a black heart hung from the bottom.

Riku tentatively reached towards the blade. He didn't recognize it, but at the same time the action felt familiar. Like he had done this a million times.

The blade flashed, flames shooting from the smoke. Riku jerked his hand back, his eyes narrowing, and growling unconsciously. The blade was soaked in blood. It dripped from the blade's tip, twisted and clung to the hilt, bright red, yet transparent, visibly showing the patterns and different shades of color beneath. And, despite the lack of light, Riku could clearly see his reflection in the blood.

 _What the hell…What does this-_

The reflection broke Riku's gaze. It raised its hands, staring down at its upturned palms. Just like the blade, they were covered, _drenched_ , in blood.

Riku, feeling like a man condemned, slowly looked down.

 _-Mean._

Blood. Painful. Guilty. Inescapable. Blood.

Riku frantically rubbed his pants, trying desperately to scrub off the blood. It wouldn't come off. Why wouldn't it come off?

What had he done? Had he hurt someone? Killed someone?

 _What is-_

What kind of person was he?

 _-going on?_

Whose blood was this? How many people?

 _And why-_

One?

 _-won't-_

Ten?

 _-this-_

A hundred?

 _-come-_

A thousand?

 _-OFF?!_

A rumbling sound was rising all around him. The ground shook and cracked, sending the world into chaos. Even the very air seemed to vibrate. Riku looked around frantically, searching for an escape.

 _Screw it._

Riku turned around, starting to run, stopping immediately. The blade was still there. The blood, his reflection, all of it. Its gaze seizing his own. Suddenly, its eyes flared orange. The reflection burst from the blade, straight towards him. Riku threw up his hands, waiting for the inevitable pain.

* * *

"Ansem!"

Riku opened his eyes. His brow furrowed confusingly. This was becoming an annoying habit. Living in a state of confusion was not something he enjoyed doing. The pain he had been expecting never came. All he remembered was a blast of air rushing past him and then…nothing. Riku lowered his hands. He turned them over, checking them thoroughly.

"No blood," Riku wondered, "And what's with the screaming... Who the hell is Ansem?"

Riku took in his new surroundings, "More importantly, where am I?"

He stood on what looked like a massive piece of stain glass. A man with long silver hair and orange eyes stood in the background towards the left. He stood sideways, his face turned to look over his shoulder and a menacing smile adorning his features. Towards the right and facing the opposite direction was a figure in a black coat, with what appeared to be very large ears, and a golden key in his hand. In the very center of the background was a boy. Only his back was visible, but Riku sensed he was around his own age. The boy was adorned in black clothing, with bits of red and yellow accenting the outfit. He held two keys. One black as death, akin to a heart falling into oblivion. The other white, with touches of blue and gold, filled with hope and oaths soon fulfilled. But the centerpiece...was himself.

He stood front and center, between the three other figures. His hands were held palms upward, the left consumed in bottomless darkness and the right gleaming with pure light. He bore a pained expression. Depending on the angle Riku viewed at the glass, the eyes shifted to look towards either the left hand or the right.

"This just keeps getting weirder," He muttered.

Riku strode towards the edge of the glass. The same infinite darkness as before filled the space beyond the glass. Riku stopped on the border between the two.

"Hmph," He grunted.

Solid ground ended with the stained glass. Instead of continuing smoothly into darkness the floor simply dropped off into a sheer cliff, forming a an unnatural plateau of sorts.

"Riku!"

Riku spun around. A figure had appeared on the other side of the glass platform, barely visible against the pitch-black background. His hand stretched out towards Riku in an oddly familiar way. As if they knew each other. He wore a black cloak, the same kind he owned…wait…had he owned something…like that? It all seemed very far away…

"What? You…You're not Riku."

The cloaked figure dropped its hand.

"Whoever you are, let Riku go! Give him back his heart!"

Riku crossed his arms indignantly, "What are you talking about? Who are you?"

The figure swung his hand sharply in front of him. There was a sudden bright light and a silver key materialized in his hand. The figure crouched, cloak flaring out.

"Alright fine!" He growled, "You asked for it!"

He charged, swinging his key with vicious speed. Riku leapt to the side, narrowly missing the bright steel. Next thing he knew, Riku was hitting the floor. His attacker had recovered in a split second, beginning his next strike without hesitation and taking Riku's legs out from under him.

 _This guy is good._

Riku rolled to the side. The dark warrior's key slammed into the floor, cracking the glass into spider webs. Riku tried to get up, but he was instantly right there. He landed a brutal kick to Riku's side, barely missing him with another key-attack. Riku struggled to get up. He rolled and dodged across the floor; all the while just ahead of the figure's unyielding attacks. The air whistling from near misses and the key scrapping across the floor in sprays of sparks and smashing rippling cracks into the glass. He knew it was only a matter of time before one of those deadly strikes landed.

 _Have to catch him off guard._

As the figure spun around in an overhead strike, Riku rolled the opposite direction, kicking towards the figure's legs. The figure faltered, then vaulted into a flip over Riku. He only had a couple seconds. But it was enough. Riku sprang to his feet.

 _Now, my turn._

Riku sprinted towards the figure, just coming back around to face him. He surged forward, feet leaving the ground, landing a solid punch. The figure stumbled, throwing up a half-hearted guard. But Riku wasn't done yet. He kicked and jabbed, throwing wicked elbows and savage head-butts, keeping this mysterious warrior on his heels. He stayed in close-quarters, neutralizing the figure's longer reach and the force of his key-strikes. He swatted away useless counterattacks and dodged the ones he couldn't. The figure was tiring under Riku's relentless barrage. If he could just keep this up a few more seconds…

"REFLECT!"

Riku felt like he had collided with a stone wall. He flew backwards, sliding across the floor, watching the metallic bubble around the figure fade. Shards of glass digging into his back. Ribs…burning. Definitely cracked. Hopefully not broken. Probably not. The figure straightened, walking towards him. Each step deliberate, echoing in the dark. Pausing, then soaring upwards.

Time slowed. The figure's cloak pulled back in the wind. The shadow under its hood as impassive as ever. Riku watched the figure's key swing back, then down. Down with the figure. Down to a final strike. To the conclusion. To the end. To oblivion.

Riku roared, one fist rising, defiant against the dying of the light.

Time resumed with a flurry of red rain.

Something wet hit Riku in the face. Followed half-a-second later by the thump of something hitting the ground next to him. Riku rolled onto his stomach, wiping his face and spitting out the remnants of whatever had landed on him.

 _How am I still alive?_

That should've been it. His last-ditch effort might have hurt, maybe left a decent bruise, but it couldn't have stopped the cloaked warrior all together. He could have, no _should have_ , killed Riku. He at least expected to hear those footsteps again, coming to finish off what he started. But he didn't. Other than his own labored breathing...there was nothing. Just deafening silence.

Riku stood, a little unsteady, not completely trusting his feet.

The figure lay on his side, crumpled and motionless. A red pool seeped from underneath his arm, tainting the stained glass. Riku had no doubts about his state of being, just questions about how it came to be.

"How?" He whispered.

He nudged the corpse with his foot, flipping it onto its back.

A black and red blade, the same blade that had led him here, rose from the figure's chest like a monument to his death. Then, it vanished in a burst of light, reappearing in Riku's hand. He glanced down briefly. The hilt was cold. Riku strode over to his enemy's corpse and callously flicked back the cloak's hood.

The light fell on a surprisingly young face. It was a boy, no more than Riku's age, maybe younger. No…not just any boy. It was the boy from the stained glass. It had to be. They had the same figure, similar weapons, same outrageously spiky hair…spiky hair.

It came back to Riku in a flash. Torrents of memories crashing through his brain in the space of a millisecond. He was Riku. His home was Destiny Islands. He'd travelled the worlds, attempting to destroy and save them in equal measure. He was a keyblade wielder: one of the few individuals chosen to guard the worlds and keep peace amongst them. The blade he held was one such keyblade, his own, Way to the Dawn. He had two other friend who were keyblade wielders. Just recently Kairi and-

"Sora!"

Riku dropped to his knees, keyblade clattering to the floor. It was him. The figure was Sora.

"No, no, no, no, no. Sora!"

He grabbed Sora by the shoulders, shaking him. Willing him to wake up.

"Sora, c'mon you can't do this to me Sora."

Tears streamed down his face. He pulled his friend close, rocking back and forth. What had happened? Why hadn't Sora recognized him? Why had he attacked him? Why had he made him…made him…

"SORA!"

* * *

Riku shot up in bed, cold sweat licking his body.

 _What happened? Where's Sora? What is going on?!_

His head spun. Riku leaned over the side of the bed, flinging the covers away, and vomited. After several seconds he leaned back, tasting bile.

"God," He struggled to get the word out, still feeling slightly nauseous, "Must've...been a dream."

He sat up a little, finally taking in his surroundings, "Where am I?"

Where ever he was, it wasn't familiar. He was inside a large, canvas tent. His bed was a green, foldable cot. A few others were spread out around the tent's interior, but most were empty. Of the few that weren't, he couldn't see any signs of movement and he couldn't make out any facial features. A rather decrepit table was placed over in the left-hand corner of the tent. It looked like it was about to collapse, bringing an army of medical supplies and tools down with it.

 _Medical. Of course!_

The town had been attacked. He had been injured during the invasion. The last thing he could remember was limping down a burning street, followed swiftly by a much closer look at said street. The town must have evacuated and someone had pulled him out with them.

Riku breathed a sigh of relief. At least a few of them had gotten out.

He yawned. Riku didn't know how long he had been asleep, but it obviously wasn't enough. His mind felt restless, however his body obviously disagreed. Grudgingly, he lay back down. Nothing seemed to be going on anyways.

He was just about to fall back to sleep when he heard the rustle of canvas being pushed aside. Two men in dark clothing entered the tent, carrying none other than Kairi on a stretcher.

Riku sat back up, "What happened? Is she alright?"

The men didn't respond, hurriedly transferring her from the stretcher to the bed next to Riku. Riku was about to ask again, in a significantly less polite manner, when shouting erupted outside the tent. The men dashed back outside, leaving Riku more worried than ever. He swung his legs off the bed, doing his best to get to Kairi without falling.

"Kairi. Hey, Kairi,"

Her eyelids flickered. Kairi shifted a bit and groaned.

"Kairi," He said again.

This time it worked. Kairi's eyes opened.

"What?" She muttered.

She squinted, closing her eyes again. Then they flew open.

"Riku? You're awake."

Riku laughed, "Ha, it'll take more than a few hits to keep me down. How are you doing? What happened?"

"Heartless…"

"Heartless? Here? Didn't the town evacuate?"

"They…they found us," Kairi tried to sit up, "Sora."

Riku gently pushed her back down, "What about Sora, Kairi?"

"He's holding off the heartless. He sent me back to warn the camp, but I was chased," She tried to get up again, whimpering from her injuries, "Shit...I need to get back there. He...needs my help."

"You're in no shape to help anyone."

"No! I need-"

"Kairi, I'll go back. Which way is the beach?"

She hesitated.

"Kairi!"

She laid back down, sinking into the cot.

"West," She breathed, "It's west of the camp."

Riku stood, brushing off his pants. He marched towards the exit.

"Riku…"

He paused, but didn't turn around.

"Nothing's going to happen to Sora. I promise."

He pushed back the tent flap, the cold night air sending a shiver through his body. He lengthened his stride, breaking into a run. The camp was in chaos. People running. Shouting. Unorganized and panicked. They'd never reach the beach in time.

 _If anything happens to him she'll never forgive me._

Riku drew his keyblade and plunged into the jungle. Heading west.

 _If anything happens to him I'll never forgive myself._

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **So first, some notes on the last chapter. I believe it was The Keeper of Worlds who posted the review about how the last chapter ended with a major cliffhanger. This actually caught me off guard and I thought it was kind of hilarious. See, I knew/know exactly what's going to happen (for the most part) later in the story and I hadn't thought about what the ending of the chapter would be like for anyone else. So when I read that review I was like, "Oh yeah. I guess that is a cliffhanger." Ha. Just thought it was funny.**

 **Anyways, on this week's episode of XIII explains why it took so long to update: honestly, I was playing way to much of everyone's favorite video game series. That's right. Kingdom Hearts. I platinumed Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix about a week ago (even beat Lingering Will on Proud mode! Hell yeah!) and I've beaten Terra's portion of Birth By Sleep. Hence, writing was shoved to the sidelines unfortunately. This chapter is the longest one so far though! I hope that makes up for it. As always, review like crazy you hooligans! And have a fantastic day!**

 **XIII**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter V:  
Sanguine**

* * *

The battle on the beach raged.

Grit and gore, blood and sand, teeth and fire and water and shadows. Life and death. Pain and fury. All mixing, grasping, clenching, fighting, biting, and tearing. The air was on fire. Every grain of sand a shard of glass. Each breath burned, like a thousand red-hot needles stabbing into his chest. It felt like he'd been at this for hours. He must have killed thousands already, but there seemed to be no end to them.

Sora swung his keyblade, batting off a couple heartless and skipping backwards, nearly tripping. Sora grimaced. He had been hit a few times, including a particularly nasty slash to the side of his neck, but a quick healing spell had taken care it. That wasn't the problem. He needed a second to breathe. Just a moment to recoup and scope out the battlefield as a whole. He needed to know if he had even made a dent. He couldn't do that from down here.

"FIRE," He yelled.

A burst of flame spiraled around his body, evaporating heartless. Sora gathered his legs under him, taking advantage of the brief cover. He leapt through the flames, back flipping onto a nearby rock formation.

The situation wasn't good. Despite his best efforts several heartless had managed to slip past into the jungle. The beach was all but taken. Their defenses had lasted longer than he expected, but it wasn't enough. The first Darkside to hit the beach had blown apart a barricade like it was made of paper, taking a couple meters of planted stakes with it. The heartless where rushing through the gap, widening it with every passing second. He had to get back down there, at least slow them down.

A searing pain cut through his calf. Sora's leg buckled, his knee driving into the rock. He roared and lashed out, keyblade crushing a heartless skull. The body fell, tumbling off the rock, taking several other heartless with it. There were more coming, swarming towards him like pissed-off ant hill. Sora snarled, wrenching a claw from his leg, nearly blacking out as more of his blood splattered the rock.

"Heal."

Nothing happened. He glanced down. His calf was still bleeding, sliced through the primary muscle.

"Heal!" He repeated.

 _Dammit!_

He was out of juice. No more magic. He struggled to his feet just as the first heartless gained the clifftop. Sora thrust forward, spearing it back over the edge. The chittering of a hundred claws filled the air as more swarmed over the edge. Amidst the falling rain Sora dodged and weaved as best he could. Swinging his keyblade round and round. Panting, emphasizing each blow with a hissing yell. His leg sang with pain. Thunder crashed in the sky. Lightning crackled into the rock, sending shards of granite and charred bodies into the air, illuminating wide eyes and flared nostrils. His world was reduced to the next strike. The next parry.

The heartless just kept coming. Droves and storms of black bodies. Piss-yellow eyes mad with the scent of blood. They threw themselves at him, eager to kill and die. For each that fell, another took its place. One slipped past his guard, stabbing into his back. Sora wrenched it off, hurling the heartless into the abyss.

The damage was done. A darkball lunged while he was distracted. Its teeth sank into flesh, digging, tearing, and ripping before it was sliced in two by a vengeful keyblade. Sora swung his keyblade like a madman, in a final, desperate attempt to hold them off. He spun, beginning a wide strike to clear his back...and stopped.

Piss-yellow eyes stared back into his, inches away. The neoshadow's antennae twitched, its eyes blank and soulless. Sora looked down.

Four, long, sickly claws pierced his chest.

 _No._

His breath hitched. Pain blossomed in his chest, spreading through the rest of his body. Blood seeped into the rain, his life bleeding out onto the uncaring stone. Sora felt his heart…falter, and everything seemed to fade away.

Sora yelled, feeling it, but not hearing. Pushing the heartless back, swinging his faithful keyblade once again. The world moved as if underwater. Sound was distance, blurred, and indistinct. His movements slow and numb. He barely felt the pain as they opened wound after wound. He almost didn't notice the weight on his shoulders dragging him towards the edge. As he fell, the world disappeared entirely. The sting of the salty air, the heartless clinging to his body, and the ground rushing towards him, none of it mattered. As he fell, Sora could only see the faces of Riku and Kairi.

How had it come to this?

* * *

"We need to keep moving," Sora said.

"No," His opponent growled, "We need to stay. We need to regroup."

Sora rolled his eyes. This was the third time he'd approached their group about moving off the island. They weren't exactly fond of the idea.

"Look," Sora said, gesturing complacently, "We've been here for a month now. I know no one wants to pack up again. I don't either. But the heartless are on their way. We've had a chance to recoup and let the wounded recover, but we can't push our luck. As long as we keep moving we have a chance of staying alive until help gets here."

The man snorted in response. His name was Toroi. Sora had never even heard of him until a week ago, but apparently he had owned the local bank. He was tall, outstripping even Riku by several inches. He had broad shoulders, meaty hands, and an unfortunate wispy comb-over that drew more attention to his hair loss than hid it. His personality matched his appearance, lacking any hard edges and barely contained in his now-muddy and tattered suit. While the rest of survivors didn't love the idea of leaving, Toroi was downright furious about it. Unfortunately, sometimes the loudest voice is the one everyone listens to.

"The _heartless_ , as you call them, aren't coming," Toroi said, his voice dripping with contempt.

Sora opened his mouth to interject, but Toroi cut him off.

"You're right, it has been a month, and not a goddamn thing has happened. They got what they wanted and now they're settling down. Just like we should be doing!" He said, yelling the final few words, "Enough of this 'darkness within our hearts' and 'heart of our world' nonsense, we're sleeping in tents for shit's sake! You call what we've been eating food?"

Toroi's face glowed beet red, sweat dripping off his quivering face. He raised a hand, pointing at Sora.

"We need to rebuild our homes. Get back to the way life was. And we need to stop listening to whiny, know-it-all little brats."

The crowd grumbled in agreement. Several of them throwing nasty looks toward Sora. They were getting tired of all the constant arguing, complacent after a month of peace.

Sora took a deep breath, an icy knot forming in his stomach. He needed to stay calm to convince them otherwise, but he was getting frustrated.

"The heartless didn't come to take our homes or our land. They don't want money, they want us," He said, "I've seen it before."

"Oh have you?"

"Yes."

"Well then," Toroi said, stepping towards Sora, "How do we know that you're not the one responsible for all of this?"

The crowd went silent. They had listened to Toroi up until now, because they agreed with him. He was loud and blunt sure, but no one else had wanted to pack their bags either. However, this was dangerous. Regardless of how they may have felt about him, this boy was deadly and someone whom it would not pay to antagonize. Another man stepped out of the crowd.

"Toroi, maybe you should let this one go," he said, reaching for Toroi's shoulder.

Toroi slapped the man's hand away.

"Let it go? Let it go when the person responsible for our suffering is right here in front of us? How do we know," He shouted, glaring at Sora, "That you didn't lead them here? What if you want us to leave to cover up your own mistake you coward!"

"I didn't see you fighting the heartless back there Toroi!"

Sora turned around. Kairi marched towards them, anger in ever footfall. Her cheeks were red and she looked ready to tear Toroi a new one.

"Sora's right. We can't keep hiding here, hoping that everything will be alright," She said, gesturing towards the crowd, "The heartless will find us again and when they do, who do you think is going to protect you? This moron?"

"Shut up bitch!" Toroi yelled, raising a fist.

There was a sound like rasping metal and a brilliant light flashed through the camp. Toroi found himself staring down the wrong end of a keyblade.

Any semblance of Sora's usual optimism was gone. His mouth was a grim line and his eyes blazed. Suddenly, Toroi was very afraid.

"Leave. Stay. Do whatever the hell you want, but you ever try to hurt my friends again and you won't like what happens next."

Sora glanced around the camp. He snorted and shook his head.

"I'm done." He said, disgusted. He turned and walked away, disappearing into the trees. He head Kairi shouting after him, but he kept walking. He couldn't believe it. After everything that had happened to them, no one would believe him. He had seen what the heartless could do and they just couldn't accept anything else could happen to them. They thought they were invincible. He was a teenager! Wasn't he supposed to be the one with the mortality comlex?

After several minutes, he reached the beach.

 _Damn defenses,_ he thought, _They won't last a minute._

He ran a hand through his hair and walked down to the ocean, dropping onto the sand. He sighed.

 _How the hell am I going to get them home?_

"Hey," Kairi said.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I know it's been quite a while since I've uploaded anything, but I have been busy working on my own personal projects and finals. On the plus side, the next chapter is already written and I will most likely post it within a week. The story is winding down. We might only have one more chapter after this one, so let me know what you think! Constructive criticism welcome. Oh the suspense!**

 **Also, fun fact, sanguine basically means "the color of blood" if you were confused by the chapter title and Toroi is actually Japanese for "slow to catch on" which I thought fit quite nicely for said character.**

 **XIII**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter VI:  
Sacrifice**

* * *

Sora woke with a start and a flash of pain in his head. His head shot up, mouth dry and filled with sand, his body numb from the rain. He looked up at the rock to his left, jutting towards the sky. He remembered. The heartless had been winning, pouring through a breach in their defenses, heading towards the camp. He had fallen. Scores of heartless dragging him over the edge of the cliff.

 _Riku. Kairi._

He knelt in the sand, blood pouring from a dozen wounds, each more fatal than the last. Had the enemy been mortal, the beach would have been littered with corpse upon corpse, mountains of rent, burned, beaten, and frozen bodies. Blood would have run like a flood and a stench like death would have risen for miles. But only a dark mist remained. A heavy fog, leftover from the vanquished heartless, haunting the shore. The only testament to the army he had slain.

Sora could hear the remaining three Darksides breaking through the jungle behind him, imagine their hulking bodies towering over the trees. Neo-shadows ran past, bloodlust in their piss-yellow eyes as they vanished into the undergrowth.

The camp would be taken soon. He could see it, the vision searing itself into his brain. Fire raging through the trees, then the tents. His people running, trying to get away, screaming when they failed. Riku would fight until the end. Somehow believing they could turn the tide. He wondered when it was that Riku had become the optimistic one. Kairi would be there too. She would never leave, not while there were people in need. A cure spell here, a keyblade strike there. No. She would never run. Neither of them would, and both would die because of it. Because of him.

Another wave of heartless landed on the beach. Sora swayed, trying to get up, but only succeeding in almost falling. They ignored him. The human was already dead. Why should they bother? His heart would soon be theirs.

Sora fell, collapsing into the wet sand. After all he'd been through, this is how it would end? All he had ever wanted was to protect his friends. Turns out he couldn't even manage that. It just didn't seem fair.

* * *

Riku burst from the trees like a bull crashing through a fence. He charged the nearest heartless, cleaving it in two, then leaping back and flinging his keyblade to bring down two more. His feet slid through the sand, sending up clouds of dust as he came to a halt. A ball of dark blue fire formed between his palms. His eyes burned. The fire began to spin, growing larger each nanosecond. His lungs pulled in a deep breath. Faster it spun. His muscles strained, holding the fire back. Faster still, freezing his palms. Riku roared, the war cry echoing down the beach.

He let go.

The fire shrieked down the beach like death on the wings. Sand was superheated into needles of glass, lancing through heartless, in its wake. A fiery explosion rippled through the heartless ranks, blue light cascading down the beach, sending a hundred heartless to oblivion.

"Sora!"

Riku scanned the beach, hoping for a glimpse of that spiky brown hair. Too late. The heartless where coming. Pouring through a shattered barrier, even faster than before. He had to slow them down before looking for Sora. Riku's mind raced. Maybe he could collapse the trees, light them on fire. A makeshift barricade was better than non-

 _Wait_

Between the heartless, but not a heartless. A figure. Taller, struggling to its feet. A flash of spiky hair.

"Sora!" Riku yelled.

Fireball after fireball launched into the enemy. Riku flung himself into the horde, carving and stabbing, taking the heartless out with ruthless efficiency. Instinct guided his movements. The unconscious rage diminishing the fight to snippets of glowing slaughter.

Smoke left by a severed head.

The chittering sound of five hundred talons.

A frozen body, shattered in midair.

The scent of burned sand and darkness.

A throat ripped through by a thrown stake.

His hands like frost, cold as death.

Skulls crushed on a reflect barrier.

The taste of copper on his tongue.

Soaring into the grey sky, gravity pulling him down, and black light searing through the enemy as he crashed his keyblade down to earth.

Wiping the sweat from his brow, Riku lowered his keyblade. A path was torn through the heartless, straight to the ocean. Straight to him.

Sora stood as if he had been there for a thousand years. A statue, a monolith standing guard over the islands. He stood with the tide at his knees and hands clenched at his sides, defiant until the end. Tattered clothes flapped in the wind and blood glistened on his skin, unnoticed and immaterial. With the rising sun over his shoulder, he stood. Unbroken.

He turned, and his eyes met Riku's. No longer mournful, no longer distant, his eyes were the ones Riku had always known. Joyful, compassionate, and strong. A Darkside rose from the waves directly behind Sora. Riku gasped and pointed, his voice suddenly absent. He swung his keyblade into battle position and prepared to charge.

But Sora merely raised his hand, stopping Riku before he started, and Sora smiled.

* * *

For the first time since the initial attack, Sora felt at peace. The pain was gone. The fight would be over soon. He may not have won the fight, but they would win the war. His friends would survive. Riku would take care of Kairi, like he always had, and help would be here soon. Donald, Goofy, and the King. Together, they would push back the darkness and retake Destiny Islands. The heartless would be put down. For good this time. He was certain of it.

Sora lowered his hand, bringing his arms in towards his chest. He closed his eyes, gathering what strength he had left.

 _Sora._

A sudden warmth grew in his chest and he felt his feet leave the ground.

 _This is not the end._

Sora saw himself, floating above the waves. Light coalesced around his body like a cloud of burnished gold. The heartless rushed towards him, drawn to the light. The Darkside drew back its massive hand.

 _Hold on Sora,_ The Voice said.

The light collapsed inward, then detonated, blasting outward in a storm of pure light. From behind his eyes, Sora saw the blinding flash.

Then the world…went dark.

 _Hold on._

* * *

The explosion hit Riku with the force of a meteor. He shot backwards, nearly into the trees. His head whiplashed into the ground, vision flickering and knocking the wind out of him. He heaved uselessly, lungs searching for oxygen. Rolling onto his side, he tried to pull himself towards the edge of the water.

"Sora," He croaked.

Holding his side, he pulled himself up. He looked around. The heartless were gone. Not a single one remained on the beach. No one did. Just himself and the boy face down in the sand. Riku limped over, collapsing next to him, and rolled his friend onto his back.

The morning light fell on Sora's face. Sora, the boy who had saved the worlds. Once from Darkness, then again from Nothingness. The warrior who had saved countless lives and never asked for anything in return. The friend, who had never given up on him, even when he had given in to darkness. His best friend.

Riku touched his fingers to Sora's neck, praying desperately for the first time in his life.

No pulse.

A cold, iron fist dropped in Riku's stomach.

"No!" He yelled, "No, no, no goddammit Sora!"

He grabbed Sora's shoulders, shaking him.

"You can't go out like this, you hear me! You can't!"

Riku's eyes clenched shut and he punched the sand. His head fell on Sora's chest.

"You can't," He whispered.

His eyes tingled, and he tasted salt. Nothing felt real. After everything they had been through. They should have died so many times, but they had always made it through. Other people died. Strangers, people he didn't know. Never them. Never, Sora. Sora couldn't die. He couldn't…

Sobs racked Riku's body, shaking him to the core, grief piercing his heart like a rusty nail. He clenched Sora's shirt, willing him to come back.

"I'm sorry Sora," He said, "I'm sorry."

A slight noise penetrated Riku's consciousness, so quiet he almost didn't hear it. Wiping his eyes, Riku raised his head.

A single Shadow heartless stood in the trees, its head cocked to one side. Riku's brow furrowed and his lips twisted into a snarl. He stood, tearing his keyblade from the air. He couldn't bring Sora back, but he sure as hell could make them pay. More heartless gathered in the shadows, hundreds of twitching ghosts stepping into the grey light. Out of the corner of his eye Riku saw what must have remained of their camp's watchmen rush from the trees farther down the beach. Several gummi ships had appeared on the horizon, heading straight for them. The watchmen pointed towards them, directing the others away from the heartless. Several of them charged after him, the fury of men who are sick of running in their eyes.

The fight was brutal and short. On one side, creatures of instinct. Those who knew nothing, but darkness and the will the feed and fight. Without anger, without mercy, these slaves to the darkness only possessed the grim efficiency needed to slake their lust.

On the other, men with nothing left to lose. Their home was taken and burned to the ground. Their loved ones were either dead or depending on their own deaths to make it to safety. They had been running for what felt like a lifetime, fighting an enemy they never knew existed until their worlds were torn apart by it.

A mile down the beach the gummi ships landed. Their immense cargo doors opened onto the beach like ramps and the survivors flooded in, a writhing mass pulling and clawing at one another, desperate to get to safety.

Three figures sprinted from the central gummi ship. Their weapons gleamed in the dawn light: a shield, a staff, and a golden keyblade. They reached the battle in a matter of seconds, diving straight into the fray. They found Riku near the center, bleeding and surrounded by heartless, but taking ten of them for every drop of his blood that hit the sand. Together they fought, taking out heartless after heartless. The watchmen were dead. Their faces petrified in shock and bodies stamped into the ground by the horde. The remaining four stood back to back, their keyblades striking quick as vipers, shield swinging like a hammer, and staff launching vicious thunderbolts.

They were warriors.

But the heartless were legion.

Out of his bloodlust, Riku felt something tugging on his arm. _The King._

"Riku! We have to go! Where's Sora?"

They both spun, back to back again, simultaneously blocking several heartless attacks.

Riku grunted as he shoved back an Invisible's sword, "Shoreline!"

He sighed, half-heartedly severing the Invisible's arm from its body, "He's…he's…dead your Majesty."

The King couldn't have looked more shocked. Donald and Goofy stopped in their tracks. Even the heartless seemed to pause, almost as if they sensed the sorrow crashing over those four brother's.

"Dead?" Goofy choked out.

"But…but he's Sora." Donald said, his eyes wide and disbelieving, "How?"

In a halting voice, Riku spoke, "He sacrificed himself…to save me…"

He pointed towards the ships, "To save them…To save the islands…H-he knew he didn't have l-long so he…"

Riku buried his face in his hands, unable to continue. Tears were running freely down Goofy's face. His shield trembled in his hands, shimmering as they fell onto its silver steel. Donald's head hung low, his beak quivering as he quietly sobbed. The King was breathing hard. His shoulders tensed and he stared straight into Riku.

With a shaky breath, Riku straightened and lowered his hands.

"He died a hero. I'll be damned if it was for nothing."

His piercing gaze met the King's, "And I won't leave him behind."

The King turned to the heartless, and whispered, his voice ragged with rage.

"I'll clear a path."

So the brief pause ended. The King speared into the heartless army, spheres of light launching from his keyblade. Forsaking his usual graceful, acrobatic style, he cut down the heartless with vengeful brutality. The others followed, each channeling their grief into the fight, trading anguish for wrath.

The heartless had resumed their attack, but by the time they rallied the four had reached Sora. Riku swept him over his shoulder, flinching at how pale Sora already was. The air vibrated as gummi ships shot overhead. They headed towards the remaining ships, fighting for every inch, each second stretching out for an eternity.

A lone soldier waved frantically from the cargo hold of the last gummi ship. Goofy jumped forward, whipping his shield into a blistering spinning attack. The other three dashed through the opening Goofy created. They leapt onto the cargo ramp, the soldier yelling to the pilot to take off. The gummi ship lifted, rumbling into the air as they beat back the heartless. Then they were in the air.

Donald and Goofy collapsed, and the King and Riku panted heavily, hands on their knees. Riku felt the adrenaline slowing in his veins. Finally, the fight was over. Help had come. He looked over at Sora, his head rolling loosely over Riku's shoulder.

 _Just not soon enough,_ Riku thought.

Out of nowhere, the ship jolted violently. Riku was thrown sideways, the sudden turbulence hurtling him into the wall and Sora's body slipped from his arms. Riku froze, watching uncomprehendingly as he slid towards the edge.

Sora fell.

Riku leapt after him realizing with a shock what was happening, but was pulled back by several pairs of hands. He collapsed, landing on top of Donald and Goofy.

"Riku," Donald said.

Riku watched as Sora's body grew smaller and smaller. He hit the ocean's surface, so far away Riku could barely hear the splash. Then he was gone.

He heard footsteps behind him and a hand fell on his shoulder.

"It's too late Riku. If there was any chance we could get Sora we would, but we have to leave while there's still a chance. You know that's what he would want."

The King stared down at the Islands, avoiding Riku's gaze. For a second Riku swore he saw a tear rolling down his face, then it was gone.

"I'm sorry Riku," The King said, walking back into the ship.

Riku stared down at the waves. Picturing Sora's body sinking into the abyss. The darkness closing in around him, his eyes closed in death. The crushing depths taking him down into forever sleep. The cargo hold began to close, but Riku's eyes never moved. He had failed Sora so many times. Now his final failure was complete.

The ship gained speed, just behind the others, heading for the edge of the atmosphere. Its secondary engines rumbled and a thousand piss-yellow eyes looked up. After a moments pause, they turned back to their work. There was still much to be done. There was still a world's heart to claim. The sky flashed blue, as a score of warp gummis kicked in, and the ships winked out of existence.

And Riku wept.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **There you have it. After all this time _Sleep_ has finally come to a close. I knew this would be the final chapter and I wanted to post it before the 25th as a gift to you guys. I know it's a little early, but hey, who doesn't like opening a couple gifts a few days early ;). I would also like to say thank you to everyone who favorited, reviewed, and followed this story to its bitter end. Can you believe all I originally planned for this story was two thousand words and a single chapter?! Crazy right? But in all seriousness, it all meant a great deal to me and I appreciate you putting up with my infrequent updates, ridiculous sense of humor, and occasionally rambling a lot longer than I should have in the author's notes.**

 **And so, without further ado, post any lingering reviews you have and let me know what you thought. I can't promise whether or not the next story will be in the world of Kingdom Hearts, or when it will be posted, but I promise this won't be my last.**

 **With that, I wish you all a Merry Christmas, a Happy Holidays, and to all a goodnight! Sleep well! (HA! See what I did there ;))**

 **XIII**


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